In the longest documented infection, a British man tested positive for the coronavirus for 505 consecutive days, setting scientists on a new path for Long-Covid patients, Time Magazine reports.
Researchers were looking for mutation patterns for coronavirus, and studied nine patients who had positive coronavirus tests for more than eight weeks. He contracted the virus in 2020 and was treated with remdesivir, but died in 2021 of unspecified causes.
The average length of the infection in the patients was 78 days, but one patient continued to test positive for nearly 17 months. All the patients studied were immunocompromised: organ transplant patients or people with HIV or MS, for example.
Five patients survived the infection. Four had their infections clear up, two after treatment and two on its own. One continues to test positive for coronavirus after 412 days.
The long active infection is intriguing to researchers studying Long-Covid because it may indicate the infection can linger in the body.